The European Commission puts nanotechnology high on the political agenda with its Communication 'Towards a European strategy for nanotechnology'. The communication has been discussed at the political level in the European Council under the Irish and Dutch presidencies during the year 2004, and an on-line open consultation on the communication was held between August and October 2004 by Nanoforum, the EU sponsored thematic network on nanotechnology. The Nanoforum received some 750 responses to the consultation. Half of the respondents came from the research community.

The consultation concludes that nanotechnology will have a strong impact on European industry and its citizens within only ten years from now. Nanotechnology will have its strongest impact on chemistry and materials, information and communication technologies, healthcare and security/defence. The participants believe that health, safety and environmental risks should be integrated early into research and that the societal impact of nanotechnology needs to be taken into account from an early stage. An international 'code of good conduct' would be welcomed by the participants.

Nanotechnology as a collective term refers to technological developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0.1-100nm. The technology is believed to produce new materials and devices. Nano-scaled devices will bear strong resemblance to nature's nano-devices: proteins, DNA, membranes etc. One fundamental characteristic of nanotechnology is that nano-devices self-assemble. That is, they build themselves from the bottom up. Critics have warned for the so-called 'grey goo' doom-scenario in which out-of-control self-replicating nano-robots consume all life on Earth while building more of themselves.

The Commission consultation report has little to say on privacy and security related issues. Nanotechnology has the capability of dramatically improving surveillance devices and producing new weapons, thus leading to an increase in incentives for private companies to produce security nanotechnology. Research is being done on swarms of microscopic nano-robots capable of video and audio surveillance.

Critics of nanotechnology have explored how the development of nano-scale devices for surveillance, tracking and monitoring may create a society that functions as a Panopticon, an institutionalised and physical form of surveillance.

Outcome of the Open Consultation on the European Strategy for Nanotechnology (December 2004)
http://www.nanoforum.org/index.php?action=showcomplete&modul=showp...

EPIC: Privacy Implications of Nanotechnology
http://www.epic.org/privacy/nano/

Wikipedia: Nanotechnology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology

The Little Big Down: A Small Introduction to Nano-scale Technologies (June 2004)
http://www.etcgroup.org/documents/littlebigdown.pdf